page_title: Pontiac Bonneville
section_title: Early development
hierarchical_section_title: Pontiac Bonneville / Early development
caption_attribution_description: English: GM Motorama concept of 1954 Pontiac Bonneville.
context_page_description: The Pontiac Bonneville is an automobile built by Pontiac from 1957 to 2005. Bonnevilles were full-sized, with the exception of a brief period of mid-size between 1982–1986. The brand was introduced as a limited production performance convertible during the 1957 model year. The Bonneville, and its platform partner, the Grand Ville, are some of the largest Pontiacs ever built; in station wagon body styles they reached just over 230 inches long, and at 5,000 pounds and more were also some of the heaviest cars produced at the time. They were also available as hearses.
context_section_description: The Bonneville name first appeared in 1954 on a pair of bubble-topped GM Motorama concept cars called the Bonneville Special, sharing an appearance with the Chevrolet Corvette.
  It entered the production lineup as a high-performance, fuel-injected luxury convertible version of the Star Chief in 1957, and was loaded with every available option as standard equipment with the exception of air conditioning and a continental kit. This put the Bonneville in a Cadillac-like price range of $5,782.00 - more than double the base price of the Chieftain on which it was built, with the result being a fully equipped Bonneville could cost more than a larger, entry-level Cadillac. Only 630 units were produced that first year, making it one of the most collectible Pontiacs of all time. The following year it became a separate model, and it would endure until 2005 as the division's top-of-the-line model. The name was taken from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the site of much early auto racing and most of the world's land speed record runs, which was named in turn after U.S. Army officer Benjamin Bonneville.
caption: 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special
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